Have you been tracking the Kindle, Amazon’s bestselling bookreader, now reduced to $189, down from $259. Kindle is a 3G wireless reading device that allows you to think of a book and start reading it in 60 seconds. Easy to read even in bright sunlight, the 10.2 ounce Kindle is light enough for one-handed reading. Even though it’s a 3G wireless device, Kindle has no monthly fees or annual contracts. The Kindle Store now has over 600,000 books and the largest selection of the most popular books people want to read, including 109 of 112 recent New York Times Bestsellers and New Releases from $9.99. Since its release, Kindle has been the #1 bestselling product across the millions of items sold on Amazon. Learn more at:
it is time someone figures out how to get books onto the ereaders for use in libraries. Right now it cost prohibitive. But if just a few people would get on board you could fill up 15 Kindles with enough to qualify as an academic theological library!
I’ve been using the iPod Touch as my e-reader, and there are hundreds and hundreds of free books to download. Many are classics/public domain books but not all. The iPod Touch is different, in that it’s not as easy to read in direct sunlight. It’s about the same as trying to read on your laptop outside. The trade off for me is that I don’t need to use a booklight at night.
LibriVox has oodles of free audio books to download to the iPod Touch, including Sections of Scripture in many languages. There’s an app called Traveling Classics, which is free, which easily downloads and stores all the audio files.
One of my favorite free apps is KJV Bible Audiobook. The reader’s voice is very pleasant to listen to, and you can follow along with a scrolling text. You can also adjust the size of the text, which is handy for people like me who have poor eyesight. I thought it would be hard to follow the King James Version, since I’m used to the NIV, but I’ve adapted quite easily. There is an NIV audio Bible with text available, but the price is a bit steep in my opinion. There are numerous applications for Bibles in various versions and in many languages. I haven’t researched it but there are probably others available.
As missionaries in remote regions we can now get books and take them with us thanks to the Kindle. It is worth buying one if you love to read.